Siva shows his experience; Fahad sizzles

COIMBATORE: M Sivaramakrishnan knows the Kari track here like the back of his hand. He also has experience on his side. That was why he recovered from the fourth position 4 on the grid to win a thrilling opening race of the Indian Touring Cars category in the first round of the 15th JK Tyre National Racing Championship here on Saturday.
Mumbai's Fahad Kutty won the first race of the Indian Junior Touring Cars category ahead of S Feroze Khan and defending champion Diljith TS in the second race held on the opening day.
The Polo Cup races wil be held on Sunday. Avdumber Hede took pole position for the first race on Sunday followed by A Sandeep Kumar, Anthony George and Mexcican driver Diego Duez.
The first race of the Indian Touring Cars Class was full of surprises as all the four top qualifiers failed to make it to the podium.
Veteran driver Radha Selvarajan, who qualified in pole position, had a great chance to open his account in style but for a technical failure that forced him to retire in the opening laps.
Defending champion and Coimbatore lad (Prime Racing) V Raj Virdhan did well to qualify for the race in second position and led the race for the next ten laps before retiring due to a technical failure.
Qualifying third, veteran driver B. Vijaykumar received a five-grid penalty because of an engine change and was moved to position 8 on the grid.
Siva followed Raj Virdhan for the major part of the race. When Rajvirdhan retired, Siva simply took charge and finished the race with a total timing of 19:30:245 followed by C Rajaram (Prime Racing) in second place and Siddharth Kishore (Performance Racing). "I made a good start and have a reliable car that did well. We can now work hard for the forthcoming races", said Sivaramakrishnan.
Coming in second in the only Swift car in the race, C Rajaram said, "Idon’t think I had a winning possibility but for opportunities given by Radha Selvarajan and Raj Virdhan’s retirements during the race. I am glad with the victoryand looking forward to future races of the championship."
In the Indian Junior Touring Class, pole position winner Fahad Kutty from Team Game Over led from start to finish, putting in a stellar performance to win the first race in a time of 20:39.569. Kutty, who won the race comfortably, was followed by Chennai youngster S Feroze Khan and Indian Junior Touring Cars defending champion Diljith TS.
It was an anxious yet extremely exciting race for Feroze, who finished third overall last year, as he was always chased by Diljith. "I was trying to watch both but did not know whom to concentrate on!I’m glad I made it to the podium in the first race of the season," said Feroze.